The 1998–99 season was the 75th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 40th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Cup. The season began on 22 August 1998 and finished on 30 May 1999.

Overview

The summer started with ambition for the club, since ENIC, the multinational company that owned AEK had the time to proceed with transfers and build a strong team. The administration of Lakis Nikolaou negotiated with high-profile managers and came close to appointing Joachim Löw, but eventually hired Dragoslav Stepanović. The club's most important signing of the summer was Vasilios Lakis, who was also strongly pursued by Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and PAOK. The transfers of Akis Zikos and Dimitris Markos also stood out, but the gap in the defensive line, after the retirement of the club's captain and long-time regular, Stelios Manolas remained unfilled.

In the UEFA Cup, AEK were drawn against Ferencváros for the second qualifying round. At Stadion Albert Flórián, the yellow-blacks got off to a nervous start and were swept away by the Magyars, trailing early in the match. The Hungarians scored a second goal on the half hour and they went to the locker rooms with a 2–0 lead, while by the 83rd minute the score became 4–0, turning the match into a nightmare for the Greek club. AEK pulled off a reaction in the stoppage time and with two goals claimed the chances of qualifying at the rematch of Athens. Two weeks later at Nea Filadelfeia, AEK, led by Demis Nikolaidis who scored a hat-trick by the 26th minute, took the qualification, while they also scored a fourth goal at the 65th minute. The first round of the UEFA Cup brought AEK against the Dutch Vitesse, who was widely known to the Greek fans due to the presence of Nikos Machlas. At the GelreDome AEK controlled the match in the first half, however, the second half began with a missed penalty by Machlas in the 50th minute, which Laros converted into a goal on the rebound, while three minutes later the Dutch made it 2–0 and Kasapis was sent off with a second yellow. In stoppage time, Machlas scored Vitesse's third goal, which left AEK with little chance of qualifying ahead of the rematch. The Nea Filadelfeia Stadium was almost full, but Machlas with an early goal put an end to AEK's qualification hopes. Nikolaidis responded with a goal almost immediately, but again Machlas three minutes later gave the Dutch the 2–1 lead. AEK were disjointed and after three goals in the opening twenty minutes, the match became an open contest with chances being missed on both sides and despite the dismissal of Westerfeld before the end of the half, Vitesse scored a third goal. AEK chased to score in the second half and tried to even get the win but failed to do so with the match ending in a 3–3 draw, which resulted in their elimination.

Stepanović started well, but his presence on the bench was not convincing and he was eventually sacked after the 7th matchday. Takis Karagiozopoulos briefly took charge as interim manager, before Oleg Blokhin was hired. At the same time Dimitris Melissanidis took over the management of the club.

In the Cup, AEK were eliminated from early on after they suffered a shock defeat in their first match from third–tier club, Poseidon Michaniona, with a poor performance by the team.

In January the squad was strengthened with signings of Michalis Kapsis, Branko Milovanović, while Wreh and Méndez joined on loan from Arsenal. AEK subsequently won both derbies against Olympiacos and Panathinaikos in Nikos Goumas Stadium with 2–0. They also defeated Aris 6–0 and Panelefsiniakos 6–2. AEK were ultimately unable to claim the Championship from Olympiacos, but they managed to beat Panathinaikos in the race for second place that led to the next season's Champions League qualifiers. Demis Nikolaidis was the club's top scorer in the league with 22 goals.

Journey to Beligrade

In April 1999, a friendly match was organised against Partizan in Belgrade, during the height of the NATO bombing of Serbia by the initiative of Dimitris Melissanidis. As a gesture of compassion and solidarity towards the embattled Serbs, the AEK players and management staff defied the international embargo and traveled to Belgrade for the match. AEK's staff, alongside political figures such as Manolis Glezos, arrived in the Serbian capital amid moving events by Serbs offering Greeks bread and salt, a symbol of Serbian hospitality. After a stop at the Presidential Palace, where AEK conveyed the message of support of the Greek people, the team arrived at Partizan Stadium.

About 15,000 supporters of both clubs were present, despite the fact that all 40,000 tickets were sold. The reason people were less than the sold tickets, was the fuel, as there was a shortage and transportation was difficult. It was worth noting that this was the first time since the beginning of the war that no sirens were heard during the day. The players of both teams entered the pitch together, holding a banner that read "NATO stop the war, stop the bombing". The score was 1–1, when at the 68th minute thousands of Serbian supporters invaded the pitch to embrace the footballers, which resulted in the end of the match. The conduction of the match eventuallyf became an object of admiration by the European Press.

Management team

Players

Squad information

NOTE: The players are the ones that have been announced by the AEK Athens' press release. No edits should be made unless a player arrival or exit is announced. Updated 30 May 1999, 23:59 UTC+3.

No.PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers 1 Ilias Atmatsidis (Vice-captain) GK 1992 Pontioi Veria ₯40,000,000 2002 15 Chrysostomos Michailidis GK 1997 Eordaikos Free 2002 17 Kostas Daditsos GK 1998 AEK Athens U20 — 2000 22 Vasilis Karagiannis GK 1993 Diagoras ₯20,000,000 2000 Defenders 5 Boban Babunski CB 1998 Gamba Osaka ₯330,000,000 2000 6 Nikos Kostenoglou CB / RB 1994 Skoda Xanthi ₯70,000,000 2003 12 Charis Kopitsis RB / RM / LB / LM 1992 Panionios Free 2001 13 Vaios Karagiannis LB / CB 1990 A.O. Karditsa ₯11,000,000 2000 21 Michalis Kasapis LB / LM 1993 Levadiakos ₯25,000,000 2002 24 Alvin Ceccoli LB 1999 Wolves Free 1999 25 Giannis Kalitzakis CB 1997 Panathinaikos ₯23,800,000 2000 31 Anton Doboș CB 1996 Steaua București ₯60,000,000 1999 32 Michalis Kapsis CB 1999 Ethnikos Piraeus ₯80,000,000 2003 Midfielders 2 Vasilios Lakis RM / RW / AM / CM / RB 1998 Paniliakos ₯320,000,000 2003 3 Dimitris Markos CM / DM / LB / LM 1998 Kalamata Free 2001 7 Christos Maladenis CM / RM / LM / AM / DM / RW / LW / SS 1995 Skoda Xanthi ₯100,000,000 2000 8 Toni Savevski CM / LM / DM 1988 Vardar ₯34,000,000 2001 14 Akis Zikos DM / CM 1998 Skoda Xanthi ₯130,000,000 2002 16 Arnar Grétarsson CM / DM 1997 Leiftur Free 2000 18 Evripidis Katsavos CM / DM / RM 1997 Veria Free 2001 19 Kelvin Sebwe AM / SS 1997 Skoda Xanthi ₯350,000,000 2003 23 Alberto Méndez AM 1999 Arsenal Free 1999 27 Branko Milovanović AM 1999 Vitória de Guimarães ₯200,000,000 2002 28 Giorgos Passios DM / CM / CB 1997 AEK Athens U20 — 2003 Forwards 9 Paraschos Zouboulis ST 1998 PAOK ₯10,000,000 1999 10 Christopher Wreh ST / SS 1999 Arsenal Free 1999 11 Demis Nikolaidis (Captain) ST / SS 1996 Apollon Athens ₯330,000,000 2001 20 Daniel Batista (Vice-captain 2) ST / SS / AM 1995 Olympiacos Free 2000 26 Giorgos Kartalis ST / SS 1996 Triglia Rafinas ₯4,000,000 2001 — Giorgos Kavazis ST 1999 Apollon Limassol ₯40,000,000 2003 Left during Winter Transfer Window 29 Dionysis Chiotis GK 1995 AEK Athens U20 — 2005 — Vangelis Kefalas CB / DM 1997 Apollon Athens Free 2000 — Mattheos Platakis AM / ST / SS 1996 Phinikas Polichini Free 2000 — Ilian Iliev AM 1998 Bursaspor ₯300,000,000 1999 — Georgios Donis RW / RM 1997 Blackburn Rovers Free 2003 — Ilias Anastasakos ST / LW / LM 1995 A.O. Dafniou Free 2002

Transfers

In

Summer

PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource2 Paniliakos₯320,000,00030 June 20033 KalamataFree transfer30 June 20015 Gamba Osaka₯330,000,00030 June 200010 Bursaspor₯300,000,00030 June 199914 Skoda Xanthi₯130,000,00030 June 200223 Aris PetroupolisLoan return30 June 200226 Aris PetroupolisLoan return30 June 2001— AthinaikosLoan return30 June 2001

Winter

PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource17 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 199927 Vitória de Guimarães₯200,000,00030 June 200232 Ethnikos Piraeus₯80,000,00031 December 2003— Niki VolosFree transfer31 December 2005— Apollon Limassol₯40,000,00030 June 2003

Out

Summer

PlayerToFeeDateSource10 AnderlechtEnd of contract21 APOELEnd of contract29 Retired30 PAS GianninaContract termination31 VicenzaLoan return— Apollon AthensContract termination

Winter

PlayerToFeeDateSource10 Levski SofiaContract termination17 Sheffield UnitedContract termination

Loan in

Summer

PlayerFromFeeDateUntilOption to buySource9 PAOKFree30 June 1999

Winter

PlayerFromFeeDateUntilOption to buySource10 ArsenalFree30 June 199923 ArsenalFree30 June 199924 WolvesFree30 June 1999

Loan out

Summer

PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource2 PAOK₯10,000,00030 June 1999

Winter

PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource24 KavalaFree30 June 199923 Apollon AthensFree31 December 200027 Ethnikos PiraeusFree30 June 199929 Ethnikos PiraeusFree30 June 1999— PanelefsiniakosFree30 June 1999

Notes

a. plus Chiotis and Platakis as a free loan until the end of the season.

b. exchange of Zouboulis and Machairidis between AEK and PAOK.

Contract renewals

PlayerDateFormer Exp. DateNew Exp. DateSource1 30 June 199930 June 200222 30 June 199830 June 19997 30 June 200030 June 20038 30 June 199930 June 200111 30 June 199930 June 200120 30 June 199830 June 2000

Overall transfer activity

Expenditure Summer: ₯1,080,000,000

Winter: ₯320,000,000

Total: ₯1,360,000,000

Income Summer: ₯10,000,000

Winter: ₯0

Total: ₯10,000,000

Net Totals Summer: ₯1,070,000,000

Winter: ₯320,000,000

Total: ₯1,390,000,000

Pre-season and friendlies

Competitions

Overall record

Alpha Ethniki

League table

Results summary

Results by Matchday

Matches

Greek Cup

UEFA Cup

Second qualifying round

First round

Statistics

Squad statistics

! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers

! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders

! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders

! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards

! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Left during Winter Transfer Window

Goalscorers

The list is sorted by competition order when total goals are equal, then by position and then by squad number. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupUEFA CupTotal11122 0 6282713 0 01338 7 0 079 6 0 06510 4 0 0420 4 0 04730 2 0 13814 2 0 022 2 0 0227 2 0 0212 1 0 12121 1 0 016 1 0 0117 1 0 013 1 0 01— 0 0 11Own goals 1 0 01Totals70 0 979

Hat-tricks Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored. PlayerAgainst Result Date Competition Source Demis Nikolaidis Ferencváros 4–0 (H) 25 August 1998 UEFA Cup Demis Nikolaidis Aris 6–0 (H) 29 November 1998 Alpha Ethniki Christos Maladenis Iraklis 3–2 (A) 19 May 1999 Alpha Ethniki

Assists

The list is sorted by competition order when total goals are equal, then by position and then by squad number. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupUEFA CupTotal13 8 0 21028 8 0 19311 6 0 17414 5 0 16517 5 0 05620 4 0 0477 2 0 13812 2 0 0216 2 0 0223 2 0 0227 2 0 0225 1 0 12132 1 0 0130 1 0 0110 1 0 01Totals50 0 757

Clean sheets

The list is sorted by competition order when total clean sheets are equal and then by squad number. Clean sheets in games where both goalkeepers participated are awarded to the goalkeeper who started the game. Goalkeepers with no appearances are not included.